ROME (CWNews.com) - The Italian Supreme Court this week ruled that homosexuality is "a psychiatric illness or disorder" in a case of a woman suing for alimony after her husband of 25 years admitted he was homosexual.

    The supreme court confirmed the decision of the Church's marriage tribunal to declare the marriage null since the husband had been a secret homosexual from before the wedding. The Sacra Rota, the Vatican's highest ecclesiastical court, had ruled that in matters of marriage, homosexuals are "psychologically incapable of assuming their conjugal obligations" and suffered from "a grave inability to carry out the duties of matrimony."

    Using the Church court's decision, the Italian court ruled the wife was not entitled to alimony payments since the couple had been married in the Church and the Church had declared the marriage to be annulled.